Galbally et al. (2012) writes “Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a rare but potentially life-threatening neonatal condition. Several authors have suggested that late pregnancy exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may increase the risk of PPHN. This association has been investigated in seven published studies that have shown mixed findings based on diverse methods. Several methodological limitations may account for the diversity of findings, which include, in some studies, a lack of control for well established risk factors for PPHN. The methodological improvement in the most recent study tentatively suggests that infants prenatally exposed to SSRIs are approximately twice as likely to suffer PPHN. Further research on the biological mechanisms involved is required. Clinicians should consider late pregnancy exposure to SSRIs as one of several possible risks for PPHN, which has implications for both prescribing SSRIs to pregnant women and for neonatal care of SSRI-exposed infants.”

If you or a loved one used SSRIs and gave birth to a child with a birth defect or who faced adverse birth outcomes, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of SSRI birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the compassion, experience, and resources required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

Reviewing previously-published literature, the team found that “Antidepressant use during pregnancy is associated with increased risks of miscarriage, birth defects, preterm birth, newborn behavioral syndrome, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn and possible longer term neurobehavioral effects.” (emphasis added)

It is also warned that “There is no evidence of improved pregnancy outcomes with antidepressant use.”

Because the manufacturers of many SSRI drugs like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft have failed time and again to warn women of these and other serious risks, thousands of SSRI birth defect lawsuits have been filed around the world.

If you or a loved one used SSRIs and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who had perinatal complications, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of SSRI birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

This team of researchers found that “The placental transfer of fluoxetine and fluvoxamine, two commonly used SSRIs, was similar between mouse and human, indicating that the fetal exposure of these SSRIs in mice is comparable with the human situation. Fluvoxamine displayed a relatively low placental transfer, while fluoxetine showed a relatively high placental transfer.” (This re-establishes the fact that Prozac crosses the placenta.)

In a rodent model, “The majority of the fluoxetine-exposed offspring died postnatally of severe heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy. Molecular analysis of fluoxetine-exposed offspring showed long-term alterations in serotonin transporter levels in the raphe nucleus. Furthermore, prenatal fluoxetine exposure resulted in depressive- and anxiety-related behavior in adult mice. In contrast, fluvoxamine-exposed mice did not show alterations in behavior and serotonin transporter levels.”

“Decreasing the dose of fluoxetine resulted in higher survival rates and less dramatic effects on the long-term behavior in the offspring.” (emphasis added)

Accordingly, Noorlander et al. (2008) concluded that “These results indicate that prenatal fluoxetine exposure affects fetal development, resulting in cardiomyopathy and a higher vulnerability to affective disorders in a dose-dependent manner”, meaning that the more Prozac (fluoxetine) a child is exposed to before birth, the more vulnerable to cardiac disorders the child becomes.

Since many women have used Prozac and other SSRI drugs unaware of the risks for heart defects and other cardiovascular problems due to the manufacturer’s failure to warn, Prozac birth defect lawsuits are currently being filed in great number.

If you or a loved one used Prozac while pregnant and gave birth to a child with a heart defect, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

Over the past several decades, drugs like Prozac and Zoloft have come under fire over a connection to birth defects (and host of other negative consequences related to SSRI use in pregnancy). Recently, I came across a piece by L.E. Grzeskowiak et al. (2012) published in Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology titled “Neonatal outcomes after late-gestation exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.”. This team of researchers from Adelaide (Australia) “aimed to investigate neonatal outcomes after prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during late-gestation” via a retrospective cohort study with “records from the Women’s and Children’s Health Network in South Australia, Australia, including the Perinatal Statistics Collection and the Hospital Pharmacy Dispensing Records.”

After a great deal of statistical work, results showed “Two hundred twenty-one women received a dispensing for an SSRI during pregnancy, 1566 had a psychiatric illness but did not receive a dispensing for an SSRI, and 32,004 did not have a psychiatric illness and did not receive a dispensing for an SSRI. Compared to infants of women with a psychiatric illness but no SSRI use, infants of women exposed to SSRIs had an increased risk of preterm delivery (adjusted OR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.83-3.93), low birth weight (adjusted OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.31-3.91), admission to hospital (adjusted OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.39-2.65), and length of hospital stay longer than 3 days (adjusted OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.11-3.36) but not small-for-gestational age (adjusted OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.65-1.94). Psychiatric illness but no SSRI use during pregnancy was only associated with an increased likelihood of neonatal hospital admission (adjusted OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.07-1.38).”

This means that pregnancies in which mothers used SSRIs were 2.68 times as likely to end prematurely, 2.26 times as likely to result in a child of low birth weight, and 92% more likely to require hospitalization for the newborn. This team also found that most of these adverse consequences were not the result of maternal psychiatric condition but rather maternal medication status.

Grzeskowiak et al. (2012) concluded that “these results add to the growing body of evidence of an association between SSRI exposure during pregnancy and a range of adverse neonatal outcomes”. Since so many women have used SSRIs unaware of these risks due to failure to warn on the part of SSRI manufacturers, SSRI birth defect lawsuits have been filed in droves in recent years.

If you or a loved one used SSRIs and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who faced neonatal complications, your family may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of SSRI birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the compassion, resources, and experience required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

The team explains that, “Women are at greatest risk of suffering from depression during the childbearing years and thus may either become pregnant while taking an antidepressant or may require a prescription for one during pregnancy. The antidepressant fluoxetine (FX) is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which increases serotonin neurotransmission. Serotonin is involved in the regulation of a variety of physiological systems, including the sleep-wake cycle, circadian rhythms and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Each of these systems also plays an important role in fetal development.”

Morrison also states that “Clinical studies suggest poor neonatal outcome after exposure to FX in utero.” To be clear, “FX” or “fluoxetine” is the chemical name for the SSRI drug Prozac.

“Recent studies in the sheep fetus describe the physiological effects of in utero exposure to FX with an 8 day infusion during late gestation in the sheep. This is a useful model for determining the effects of FX on fetal physiology. The fetus can be studied for weeks in its normal intrauterine environment with serial sampling of blood, thus permitting detailed studies of drug disposition in both mother and fetus combined with monitoring of fetal behavioural state and cardiovascular function.”

Further discussing animal modeling of the adverse effects of Prozac use during pregnancy, the team states that “Fluoxetine causes an acute increase in plasma serotonin levels, leading to a transient reduction in uterine blood flow. This, in turn, reduces the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus, thereby presenting a mechanism for reducing growth and/or eliciting preterm delivery. Moreover, because FX crosses the placenta, the fetus is exposed directly to FX, as well as to the effects of the drug on the mother. Fluoxetine increases high-voltage/non-rapid eye movement behavioural state in the fetus after both acute and chronic exposure and, thus, may interfere with normal fetal neurodevelopment. Fluoxetine also alters hypothalamic function in the adult and increases the magnitude of the prepartum rise in fetal cortisol concentrations in sheep. Fetal FX exposure does not alter fetal circadian rhythms in melatonin or prolactin. Studies of the effects of FX exposure on fetal development in the sheep are important in defining possible physiological mechanisms that explain human clinical studies of birth outcomes after FX exposure.”

Since so many women have taken Prozac and other SSRI drugs during pregnancy unaware of the risks posed to a developing fetus, a great number of Prozac® birth defects lawsuits are currently being filed around the world.

If you or a loved one used Prozac and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who faced perinatal complications, you and your family may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac® birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

Lisboa et al. (2007) write “Fluoxetine (FLX) has been widely prescribed for depression during pregnancy and/or lactation. Since serotonin is a neurotrophic factor, the use of FLX by mothers could disrupt brain development resulting in behavioral alterations in their progeny. This study evaluated the effects of developmental FLX exposure on anxiety, depression, aggressivity and pain sensitivity of male and female mice pups.”

After giving Prozac to mice during pregnancy, the team evaluated the behavior of the babies. Results showed that “In male pups, exposure to FLX decreased ambulation at postnatal day (PND) 40 and tended (p=0.07) to increase the latency to the first attack in the intruder-resident test at PND 70, suggesting decreased impulsivity. In female pups, FLX exposure increased immobility time in the forced swimming test at both PND 30 and 70, which is interpreted as depressive-like behavior.”

As such, the study concluded by stating “our results suggest that maternal exposure to FLX during pregnancy and lactation results in enduring behavioral alterations in male and female pups throughout life.”

Due to the fact that the manufacturer of Prozac has failed time and again to adequately warn users of the risks for adverse birth outcomes resulting from Prozac in pregnancy, a number of Prozac® birth defects lawsuits are currently being filed.

If you or a loved one used Prozac and your child was born with a congenital malformation or suffered complications, your family may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac® birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

In 2009, S. Alwan and J.M. Friedman, a research duo from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, published a study titled “Safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in pregnancy.” in CNS Drugs that provided important insight into the link between gestational exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs (such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft) and serious congenital malformations.

Because it’s written in plain English and not-so-scientific terms, I have included the abstract below:

“Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most commonly used medications, with a prescription frequency of 2.3% in pregnant women. Although most babies born to women who take SSRIs during pregnancy are normal, there is accumulating evidence that maternal SSRI treatment during pregnancy may cause adverse reproductive outcomes.

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Maternal SSRI treatment during the first trimester has been implicated in increased risks of birth defects, specifically cardiac abnormalities, in the infant, whereas third-trimester treatment has been linked to various neonatal complications, including symptoms of neonatal withdrawal and toxicity, prematurity, low birth weight and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Although data on neurobehavioural and long-term cognitive problems among children of women who were treated with SSRIs during pregnancy remain limited, the possibility of such functional abnormalities is an additional concern.

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On the other hand, untreated maternal depression also carries serious risks for both the mother and the baby, and SSRIs are one of the best available treatments. Thus, pregnant women who require treatment for depression and their physicians often face a difficult choice regarding the use of SSRIs.”

While untreated maternal depression does in fact constitute a serious problem, it is of utmost concern that expecting mothers make informed decisions regarding drug use during pregnancy. And because the manufacturers of many SSRI drugs have failed time and again to adequately inform women of these risks, a number of SSRI birth defect lawsuits have been filed.

If you or a loved one used SSRIs and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who had perinatal complications, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of SSRI birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

The website Medindia.net writes that “Pediatric pyloric stenosis is narrowing of the lower end of the stomach due to thickening of the muscles of the pylorus. The narrowing is up to the extent that milk and other stomach contents cannot pass into the small intestine.”

Bakker et al. (2010) state “We report an association found in a surveillance study which systematically evaluated combinations of specific birth defects and drugs used in the first trimester of pregnancy. … The database of a population-based birth defects registry (birth years 1997-2007) was systematically screened for combinations of drugs and malformations that were disproportionately present compared to the rest of the database.”

Results showed “an association between maternal use of fluoxetine and infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS)”: about 2% of children with IHPS had been exposed to Prozac before birth, while only 0.2% of children with other malformations had been exposed to Prozac during pregnancy.

Due to the fact that the manufacturers of Prozac have failed time and again to adequately warn users of the risk for birth defects, many women have chosen to file Prozac® birth defects lawsuits.

If you or a loved one used Prozac (fluoxetine) and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who had perinatal complications, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac® birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

In July 2010, a team of Lebanese published a study titled “Goldenhar syndrome associated with prenatal maternal Fluoxetine ingestion: Cause or coincidence?” in the medical journal Birth Defects Research reviewing a congenital malformation linked to prenatal Prozac (fluoxetine) exposure. That team, led by C. Farra, was the first to associate goldenhar syndrome with Prozac, though other researchers have demonstrated that a number of different craniofacial birth defects are linked to gestational exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs.

The Farra team writes, “Goldenhar syndrome, also known as oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum, is a complex, heterogeneous condition characterized by abnormal prenatal development of facial structures. We present the occurrence of Goldenhar syndrome in an infant born to a woman with a history of prenatal Fluoxetine ingestion throughout her pregnancy. Because this is the first reported case associating maternal Fluoxetine intake with fetal craniofacial malformations, a potential mechanism of injury is discussed.”

The baby boy born to nonconsanguinous parents “ had facial asymmetry with right microtia and mandibular hypoplasia; he also had bilateral hypoplastic macula, scoliotic deformity of the thoracic spine, and ventricular septal defect.” That is, he had both craniofacial malformations and a heart defect. Ventricular septal defect is a birth defect characterized by one or more small holes remaining open between the left and right ventricles after birth. In turn, this inhibits proper oxygenation and cardiovascular performance, among other things.

Farra continues, noting that “The mother was under treatment with Fluoxetine 20 mg/day prior to conception and maintained the same dosage throughout her pregnancy” and states, “The occurrence of developmental aberrations may be caused by a profound serotonin receptor suppressive state in utero leading to aberrant clinical manifestations of the first and second branchial arches. Despite the very many limitations of case reporting of teratogenic events, it remains an important source of information on which more advanced research is based.”

Because so many expecting mothers have used Prozac unaware of the risks for serious congenital malformations, a number of Prozac® birth defects lawsuits have been filed.

If you or a loved one used Prozac and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who had perinatal complications, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac® birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

The authors write, “Antidepressants are often used antenatally, and placental transfer may lead to adverse effects (toxicity) in the neonate” and state that “Pregnant women taking fluoxetine (n=4), sertraline (n=4), paroxetine (n=2) or venlafaxine (n=1) in the last trimester were studied” in this trial, collecting “Maternal and cord sera … at delivery and infant serum on day 5 after birth for measurement of antidepressant concentrations. Neonatal Abstinence Scores (NAS) were measured in the infants on days 13 after birth.”

This means that the antidepressant drugs studied all passed easily to the developing fetuses. The team states, “The neonates of two patients taking fluoxetine had high NAS”, meaning that Prozac was linked to neonatal abstinence syndrome.

If you or a loved one used Prozac and gave birth to a child with a congenital malformation or who had perinatal complications, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, contact our team of Prozac® birth defect lawyers at the information provided below. We have the experience, resources, and skills required to win the justice you deserve. Call today and see how we can help.

About this Blog

This blog chronicles legal and scientific news relating to personal injuries caused by defective drugs and medical devices. It is published by injury lawyer Justinian C. Lane, an attorney who takes a personal interest in each of his clients’ cases.